INTEGRATED SAFEGUARDS DATA SHEET CONCEPT STAGE Public Disclosure Copy Report No.: ISDSC280 Date ISDS Prepared/Updated: 09-May-2013 Date ISDS Approved/Disclosed: 03-Oct-2013 I. BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data Country: Africa Project ID: P126974 Project Name: Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence Project (P126974) Task Team Andreas Blom Leader: Estimated 28-Oct-2013 Estimated 19-Dec-2013 Appraisal Date: Board Date: Managing Unit: AFTEW Lending Specific Investment Loan Instrument: Sector(s): Tertiary education (50%), Agricultural extension and research (15%), Health (15%), Oil and gas (10%), Other Mining and Extractive In dustries (10%) Theme(s): Education for the knowledge economy (70%), Technology diffusion (20%), Health system performance (10%) Financing (In USD Million) Total Project Cost: 158.30 Total Bank Financing: 158.30 Public Disclosure Copy Financing Gap: 0.00 Financing Source Amount BORROWER/RECIPIENT 0.00 International Development Association (IDA) 158.30 Total 158.30 Environmental B - Partial Assessment Category: Is this a No Repeater project? B. Project Objectives The Project Development Objective is to strengthen the capacity of selected universities and their partner institutions to deliver high quality training and applied research at the regional level within areas of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Health and Agriculture that are of particular relevance to Africa’s development. The higher order objective is to meet the labor market demands for skills within specific areas where there are skill shortages affecting development outcomes and economic growth. Further, the project will, on a demand basis, invest in well performing universities that can start building a foundation for Public Disclosure Copy Africa to increase knowledge and technology absorption, and build knowledge-based competitive advantages. C. Project Description The project consists of two components; the first is to build capacity in competitively selected institutions to produce in-demand high skilled labor and applied research. The second will facilitate the regional impact through talent and labor mobility and support of M&E and project coordination activities. Component 1: Producing in-demand specialized high skilled labor through regional specialization Component 1 will support selected institutions to become Africa Centers of Excellence in STEM, Health and Agricultural Sciences within areas that are pertinent to developing graduates and knowledge solutions to enhance African development. An estimated 5-10 higher education institutions will be selected through an open, transparent and merit-based selection process to become an African Center of Excellence (ACE). The selection process will entail three steps, namely; (a) Preparation of a long-list of potential ACE candidates (higher education institutions) based on criteria of potential for excellence. This draft list will be shared broadly for consultation; (b) call for proposals to those institutions on the long list, and (c) evaluation of proposals by independent African and international experts , and (d) submission of institutional proposals of a short-list of institutions. To identify initial beneficiary institutions, a panel of African sectoral regional organization leaders met with the Bank team in December 2011. There was agreement on a set of criteria, which will still was further refined at another stakeholder consultation meeting in March 2012, as the basis for the Public Disclosure Copy identification of an ACE- "long list". Institutions on the long list will have to demonstrate in their EOI that they meet the requirements, mainly referring to quality, financial sustainability, regionality and government commitment. Once selected, the institutions will received support in the form of two sub-components: Institutions will Sub-component 1: Building training and research capacity .This will be achieved by implementation of an institutional plan designed by the institution and reviewed by external experts. The plan will consist of an institutional specific mix of the following elements: (i) developing and offering new specialized short-term programs for nearly or just graduated professionals to prepare them for a job or for further professional development, possibly through e-learning; (ii) developing new or strengthening existing education programs, in particular post-graduate programs; (iii) increasing quality and relevance of existing teaching through revision of curricula based upon industry advice; (iv) enhancing the research capacity of institutions to produce more applied research within the focus areas of the ACE for innovation and R&D; (v) collaborate with partner institutions located in other African countries or in the host country to strengthen their faculty qualifications, offer access to specialized courses and learning equipment, collaborate on curriculum and other education aspects; (vi) developing partnerships and outreach with the private sector and related communities to ensure linkages with relevant regional labor market and communities; (vii) international education and research collaboration; (viii) inte rnational benchmarking and accreditation; (ix) improving management, governance, and leadership, and (x) improving equity and reducing gender gaps, increasing admission of talented regional students and faculty. This component will finance the following inputs: (i) shorter-term training of faculty and Public Disclosure Copy administrators, (ii) upgrading of qualifications of faculty (masters and PhD training); (iii) provision of learning resources and research equipment, (iv) linkages with private sector to ensure relevance of curricula and work-place learning, (v) minor rehabilitation for extension of existing facilities (the need for construction will be reviewed during the preparation phase; however, no land acquisition will be undertaken), (vi) workshops, operating costs, conferences, and travel, and (vii) consultant services. Component 2: Facilitating Regional Impact Sub-component 2.1 Talent and faculty Mobility. This sub-component will facilitate talent mobility and labor through scholarships and support to visiting students from partnership institutions (and vice versa) to gain exposure to different learning environments whilst simultaneously building capacity in the visiting institutions. Sub-component 2.2 M&E and project management will aim to provide reasonable timely, sufficient, precise, and reliable information to assess and improve the performance of the selected institutions and the project. Further, there will be a strong focus on implementation support for project management, information sharing, and fiduciary capacity building. It will also finance financial and possibly technical audits. D. Project location and salient physical characteristics relevant to the safeguard analysis (if known) The Project will be located in multiple Sub-Saharan African countries at few institutional sites of higher learning in the disciplines of STEM, Agriculture, and Health sciences. These centers will be selected as Africa Centers of Excellence with a small number of partner institutions. There will be Public Disclosure Copy some rehabilitation and extensions of the selected institutions. The need for new construction will be assessed as part of the project preparations. In general the project will seek to avoid new construction as the project aims to focus on quality enhancements of the Centers of Excellence, where majority of the funding will be on "softer items" i.e. faculty and curriculum development, scholarships and learning resources being some of these quality enhancement activities. A clear covenant on limiting the civil works allowed under the project will be established. There will be no new land acquisition for the Centers of Excellence; the project will select existing institutions. E. Borrowers Institutional Capacity for Safeguard Policies The institutional capacity of each of the aspiring Africa Centers of Excellence, relative to the applicable safeguards, will be assessed during the pre-appraisal period. F. Environmental and Social Safeguards Specialists on the Team Hocine Chalal (AFTN1) II. SAFEGUARD POLICIES THAT MIGHT APPLY Safeguard Policies Triggered? Explanation (Optional) Environmental Assessment OP/ Yes Environmental and social impacts of BP 4.01 rehabilitating academic/research institutions are expected to be moderate. ESMPs will be prepared for each candidate institution to manage environmental and social impacts.One Public Disclosure Copy or two ESMPs will be prepared, consulted upon, and disclosed before appraisal. Natural Habitats OP/BP 4.04 No The project will include rehabilitation and minor construction within existing university/ institution campus grounds,and thus natural habitats will not be affected by project activities. Forests OP/BP 4.36 No The project will not involve forestry activities. Pest Management OP 4.09 No The project activities will not involve the use of pesticides. This policy is not triggered. Physical Cultural Resources OP/ TBD Physical cultural resources could be affected if a BP 4.11 supported university is located near such resources or have physical cultural resources on their campus. Once the selection of the supported universities has been finalized, the specific location of campuses will be known and the potential impact on physical cultural resources will be assessed concretely. The screening for the sub projects will include “chance finds� and cultural resource management procedures. Triggering of this policy will be reviewed at the time of the Quality Enhancement Review and again at the Decision meeting. Public Disclosure Copy Indigenous Peoples OP/BP 4.10 TBD It is possible some of the supported universities are in areas inhabited by Indigenous Peoples. Once the selection of the supported universities has been finalized, as such, the specific location of campuses will be known and the potential impact on indigenous communities can be assessed. Indigenous Peoples Plans may be prepared as and when necessary during project implementation. The project screening process will indicate that the any projects that may negatively affect indigenous communities will not be financed by the ACE project. Involuntary Resettlement OP/BP No Project activities are only expected to include 4.12 minor civil works since the project focuses on quality improvements and not on expanding capacity to more students. All civil works will take place on existing campus grounds. Sub- projects involving land acquisitions leading to involuntary resettlement and/or restrictions of access to resources or livelihoods will not be financed by allowed for this project. Safety of Dams OP/BP 4.37 No N/A Public Disclosure Copy Projects on International No N/A Waterways OP/BP 7.50 Projects in Disputed Areas OP/BP No N/A 7.60 III. SAFEGUARD PREPARATION PLAN A. Tentative target date for preparing the PAD Stage ISDS: 04-Apr-2013 B. Time frame for launching and completing the safeguard-related studies that may be needed. The specific studies and their timing1 should be specified in the PAD-stage ISDS: The candidate institutions interested to benefit from this program will be asked to prepare an Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP). Such ESMP will be submitted together with the proposal for strengthening an institution. The ESMP will describe the construction/ rehabilitation component of the proposal with the likely environmental and social impacts and will propose relevant mitigation measures and monitoring procedures. Guidelines for conducting environmental and social screening and Terms of Reference for preparing such ESMPs will be available to each participating institution . These ToR for ESMPs will include the screening process and provide a list of mitigation measures to facilitate environmental and social safeguards management for the ACE grants implementation. The Guidelines (in English and French) will be publicly disclosed before project appraisal as well as one or two ESMPs, which have been consulted upon. Before approval of each proposal, the ACE applying for the grant will prepare an ESMP (including consultations with the project stakeholders), which will be reviewed and approved by the Regional Coordination Secretariat . The ESMP then will be publicly disclosed in country and in the World Bank InfoShop. The Regional Coordination Secretariat will also be Public Disclosure Copy responsible for ensuring proper oversight of the adherence to of selected institutions to safeguards requirements set forth in the project level ESMPs. IV. APPROVALS Task Team Leader: Name: Andreas Blom Approved By: Regional Safeguards Name: Alexandra C. Bezeredi (RSA) Date: 09-May-2013 Coordinator: Sector Manager: Name: Peter Nicolas Materu (SM) Date: 03-Oct-2013 1 Reminder: The Bank's Disclosure Policy requires that safeguard-related documents be disclosed before appraisal (i) at the InfoShop and (ii) in country, at publicly accessible locations and in a form and language that are accessible to potentially affected persons.